As you may have read from previous posts, I'm no longer in the favourable position of working in the centre of Brighton. This makes it very tricky to get an interesting mix of photos for my Photo 52 project.
On the other hand, I do have the option to work from home, and so on occasion I will take myself on a merry jaunt at lunchtime to see what I can shoot, hopeful that something, somewhere in the local vicinity will grab my artistic attention.
One such occasion happened this week, so I took myself down to the undercliff walk just down the road from where I live. I specifically went there because I had an idea in mind - sparked by the bright sunshine and fluffy clouds I could see, I wanted one of the benches on the undercliff with a nice stark shadow coming down from it, and a shallow depth of field to isolate it from the background.
When I got down there, it quickly became apparent that it was the wrong time of day, that the sun needed to move around that little bit further around. Because, while I found a nice bench and a nice shadow, said shadow was at completely the wrong angle from what I was after.
Additionally, aside from the kit Lumix 12-32mm pancake, I only had my Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm lens with me. Which, though it gives good subject isolation, does rely on being very close to the subject to do so. The composition in mind would have worked better with an 85mm-equivalent focal length to give it the extra isolation I wanted.
Now, it would be easy to turn around and walk back home, certain in the fact that the shot you wanted isn't available. But that would be wrong, that would be counter to what photography is about. A location isn't there for a specific shot; a location is there to be explored.
And so the eye begins to wander, to look for new opportunities.
Clearly my initial idea was about subject isolation, lines and contrast, and I used this as inspiration down on the undercliff. For those who are unaware, the undercliff walk runs between Saltdean and Brighton Black Rock, and is a substantial piece of concrete infrastructure designed to mitigate erosion of the chalk cliffs along the coast. So what we have is a flat path of concrete just under the cliffs, then a wall of angled concrete between it and the pebble beach. Because of the angles involved, you can get nice sharp shadows down there, and also a fair few puddles from the waves smashing against it.
Though happy with these, my take-away image from the half-an-hour wander was this shot of a cyclist dashing past a puddle.
Dynamic, colourful, interesting, there's more life in the image than any of the previous shots, and one I would have missed had I not carried on exploring the area. So get out there, and stay out there! Photography is rarely about the destination.
On the other hand, I do have the option to work from home, and so on occasion I will take myself on a merry jaunt at lunchtime to see what I can shoot, hopeful that something, somewhere in the local vicinity will grab my artistic attention.
One such occasion happened this week, so I took myself down to the undercliff walk just down the road from where I live. I specifically went there because I had an idea in mind - sparked by the bright sunshine and fluffy clouds I could see, I wanted one of the benches on the undercliff with a nice stark shadow coming down from it, and a shallow depth of field to isolate it from the background.
| Picture info: Lumix GH4, Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm, ISO200, f/1.8, 1/16000 sec |
Additionally, aside from the kit Lumix 12-32mm pancake, I only had my Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm lens with me. Which, though it gives good subject isolation, does rely on being very close to the subject to do so. The composition in mind would have worked better with an 85mm-equivalent focal length to give it the extra isolation I wanted.
Now, it would be easy to turn around and walk back home, certain in the fact that the shot you wanted isn't available. But that would be wrong, that would be counter to what photography is about. A location isn't there for a specific shot; a location is there to be explored.
And so the eye begins to wander, to look for new opportunities.
Clearly my initial idea was about subject isolation, lines and contrast, and I used this as inspiration down on the undercliff. For those who are unaware, the undercliff walk runs between Saltdean and Brighton Black Rock, and is a substantial piece of concrete infrastructure designed to mitigate erosion of the chalk cliffs along the coast. So what we have is a flat path of concrete just under the cliffs, then a wall of angled concrete between it and the pebble beach. Because of the angles involved, you can get nice sharp shadows down there, and also a fair few puddles from the waves smashing against it.
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Though happy with these, my take-away image from the half-an-hour wander was this shot of a cyclist dashing past a puddle.
| Picture info: Lumix GH4, Panasonic Leica f/1.4 25mm, ISO200, f/7.1, 1/2000 sec |
Dynamic, colourful, interesting, there's more life in the image than any of the previous shots, and one I would have missed had I not carried on exploring the area. So get out there, and stay out there! Photography is rarely about the destination.
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